Dr Nikiforov has a Ring to it
by LumiOlivier
Summary: Getting sick sucks something awful on its own. Getting sick with no one else home but your overbearing roommate to take care of you? That's a mess in itself. (One-shot)


Achoo...

No...Anything but that.

Achoo...!

Dammit. I felt like I got hit by a truck. My head's about to explode. Or my stomach. Whichever one wanted to erupt first. It's like they're racing. And it feels like someone shoved a lighter in my nose. I feel like I'm dying, but despite all of that, it's the least of my worries. I faired rather well when I got sick. It was my actual mother hen of a roommate that would be a problem.

A couple years ago, I read an ad on the corkboard of the coffee shop I worked at that said: "Man in search of roommate. Must be ok with pets." I was on the verge of being evicted anyway, so I thought I'd check this guy out. I met all of the criteria. And that's how I fell in love with a giant poodle named Makkachin and ended up the roommate of Victor Nikiforov. His boyfriend lived in a different country for the time being, so I got to fill the void.

In my first year of living with Victor, I ended up getting a wicked sinus infection and he wouldn't let up on wanting to take care of me. It was almost obnoxious, but I knew it came from a place of love. However, it's also made me crafty. I'd have to be sneaky when I leave for work. If Victor catches wind that I'm sick, I'm screwed.

I can throw up once I get to work. Then, I should be good for the day. Or I could book a hotel room. I didn't want to go to a doctor. I wasn't nearly that bad. But I was bad enough to where I needed to hide from Victor for the day. Although, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to work before I throw up. I could cover, though.

Death metal masked the sounds of my dry heaving. Thank you, Kerry King. I rinsed my mouth out, brushed my teeth, and tiptoed past Victor in the living room with Makkachin on his hip as he idly scrolled through his Instagram feed. I'm sure that's how he's keeping tabs on everyone.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" he caught me.

"Work," I could hardly speak. The razorblades in my throat were making that difficult, "I'll see you later."

"I don't think so," Victor stopped me, the back of his hand immediately going to my forehead. Dammit. So much for going about this sneakily, "Alexi..."

"Yeah...?"

"You're sick, aren't you?"

"No."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Through my teeth."

"Bed," Victor demanded. And I begrudgingly dragged my feet into my room and back to my bed. At this point, I'm just shocked he didn't tell me to go to his bed. It was bigger than mine.

"Victor," I swore, "I'm fine. I'm good enough to go to work."

"No, you're not," he saw right through me, "You don't blast Slayer unless you're cooking or throwing up. You weren't in the kitchen. Stay here."

"What are you doing?" I wondered.

"This can go one of two ways," Victor bargained, "Either you cooperate and I get your temperature or you don't and I get the vasoline."

"Fine," I submitted, horrified of what he would've done with the vasoline.

"Wonderful!" Victor beamed, slipping the thermometer in my mouth, "Things are so much simpler when you cooperate."

"Eat me," I growled, holding the thermometer between my teeth.

"Hush," he pulled it out, "Thirty-nine (For our friends not on the metric system, that's about 102°F). Not good. I knew you were running a fever."

"Fantastic," I sat up, "Can I go to work now?"

"I'm going to call your boss," Victor wiped the thermometer off, "You're not going anywhere."

"I told you," I reiterated, "I'm fine."

"You're far from fine!" he rolled his eyes, "You could hardly stand. You were throwing up. You're running a high fever. You're not going anywhere. Please, Alexi. Let me take care of you."

"Fine," I caved, making myself comfortable. Looks like I'm not going anywhere.

"Thank you," Victor took my phone, "Go back to sleep."

"Ok," I shut my eyes for a couple minutes, listening to the conversation he was having with my boss. I guess I could doze off for a little bit.

That is until I felt some of the softest hands I've ever felt on a man rubbing in small circles on my chest. That's not a little weird, "Victor..."

"Shh..." he hushed me, "Go back to sleep, Alexi."

"What are you doing?" I asked, about to fling him across the room. If I had the strength to do so.

"Go back to sleep," Victor repeated himself, "Your chest sounded a little rattle-y. Mentholatum is a blessing."

"It's disgusting," I squirmed beneath his touch.

"So stubborn," he giggled to himself, "I promise it'll make you feel better in the long run."

"Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Don't let me stop you," Victor insisted, "Do you need anything?"

"No," I grabbed my blanket, "I'm good. You really don't have to do all this."

"Oh, hush," he wrapped his arms around me, "It's no trouble."

"Don't get to close," I begged, "You don't need this. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies."

"Alexi," Victor scolded, "I'm ok with taking care of you. And if I get sick, so be it. It would be entirely worth it. Now, get some rest."

"Ok," I cuddled into him, "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Being an only child growing up, things got kind of lonely. Victor was the older brother I never had. With a hint of an overbearing mother. If he and Yuri ever adopt any babies, he'll make one hell of a dad and those kids are going to be lucky. And more loved than they'd ever know. I shut my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

When I woke up, I felt a giant mass of fur lying next to me. Victor wasn't the only one worried about me. Makkachin loved me, though. And he wasn't leaving my side. My good boy. Maybe staying home today wasn't such a bad idea. I was pretty drained from whatever plagued me. There was no way I'd be able to go through work without collapsing. If I did that, it'd only make Victor that much more of a mother hen.

He had a point though, Makkachin was the ideal cuddle buddy. Soft, squishy. He wouldn't ask me about my day. He wouldn't ask me if I had plans for tomorrow. Sometimes, I wondered if he loved me more than he did Victor, but I knew better. Makkachin was truly a good boy.

Twitch, twitch.

What the hell...? Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful Russian man at my feet. Quite literally. Victor had my bare foot in his hand and a bottle in the other. Was that...? Oh, Victor. You're too much. And I would rather you would've gone with the silver glitter on the blue instead of the gold, but it worked.

"Victor," I relaxed, "What are you doing?"

"Painting your toes," Victor didn't even break his concentration, "They were looking pretty chipped. Why?"

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, fighting every urge I had to roll over.

"It bothered me," he shrugged, "And you were asleep, so I had no one to play with."

"You couldn't have called Yurio or something?" I groaned.

"Yurio doesn't answer my calls," Victor pouted.

"What about Yuri?"

"He's on a flight here," he blew on my toes, "I'll see him later."

"Even with me being so sick?" I wondered.

"He left earlier this morning."

I really wanted to curl up in my bed, but I didn't want to get nail polish on my bedding, "What about Chris?"

"I don't want to get his hopes up," Victor screwed the cap back on the bottle, "More importantly, how are you feeling?"

"A little better," I still wanted to turn on some cartoons and go back to sleep, but I'd have to wait for my toes to dry.

"That's good," he put his hand to my forehead, "Your fever's still there, though. If it's alright with you, I have an idea of how we can get it to break."

"And what's that?" I don't know why, but something didn't feel right.

"Taking a bath."

"That actually sounds nice," I nodded, "Why wouldn't I be ok with that?"

"Because you need to be resting," Victor sat at the edge of my bed, "And I'm the only one here to help you."

"Oh..." In that moment, everything my roommate was trying to get across fell into place, "Oh!"

"Yeah," he bit his lip, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but a bath would help drop your fever and the sick germs need to get off you. So, Alexi...As your concerned friend and loving roommate, would you allow me to help you?"

I wasn't sure how to feel about this. Victor was essentially asking me if he could give me a bath. The hot water sounded delightful, but Victor doing it...? It wouldn't be much different than him taking care of me when I was drunk on New Year's and I threw up all over myself. Only instead of being drunk, I'm sick. But I still have misgivings.

"Maybe later," I stipulated, "And only if my fever hasn't broken yet."

"Ok," Victor let it go, "Well, since you've been able to keep your water down and you haven't thrown up for a couple hours, you want to try eating something?"

"Sure," I wrapped my blanket around me, "Nothing too big, though."

"Pelmeni good for you?" he offered.

"That's perfect," I melted. Victor's dumplings were a gift and they'd hit the spot right about now.

I've picked up some of Victor's cooking, but his pelmeni was one of those things he'd only make if he was home by himself and knew no one would be in the kitchen. They were spoken of in hushed whispers and held on a pedestal. And Victor couldn't have them done quicker. I had a feeling the I'd owe him pirozhkis once I felt better. And if I'm making pirozhkis, that'd always bring Yurio around. I missed him and one way to his heart could be found through his stomach.

Speaking of, my stomach let out a weird grumble that made Makkachin jump. I wasn't sure if it was me being hungry or me wanting to throw up. Then again, the thought of Victor's cooking would be enough to make anyone hungry. Victor's pelmeni took almost no time and I wanted to binge. When he came back into my room, he had a bowl that was half the size of a normal bowl. I get my stomach wasn't exactly in fighting shape, but come on. It's like a toddler bowl.

"Ok," Victor sat at the edge of my bed, bowl in one hand and my fork in the other, "I hope you're hungry, Alexi. I made a big batch."

"Thank you," I grabbed the bowl from him...or at least I tried.

"What do you think you're doing?" he scolded me, slapping my hands.

"Trying to eat," I argued, "The first time all day I've had any appetite. I figured we wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth."

"Look," Victor kept my fork from me, "You know that you need to rest and save your strength."

"Yeah..." I gave him a look, "Victor, I appreciate you taking care of me, but..."

"I know," he cut me off, "But you need to be resting, Alexi. I know you can probably feed yourself, but please. Let me do this for you."

In our two years of living together, I never saw so much sincerity in that man's eyes. He's been so good to me today. I might as well submit, "Ok. I won't fight you."

"Thank you," Victor got a dumpling for me, feeding me small bites at a time. I couldn't believe I was actually letting him feed me, but honestly, this wasn't half bad. It was kind of nice. And damn...Victor hasn't lost his touch.

"You didn't have to do this," I jabbed.

"Shut up," he giggled, cleaning up the dishes, "You should know better."

"I should," I smirked, "But do you really expect me to?"

"No," he left me to my devices and I gave serious consideration to another nap. All I've done today is eat, sleep, and throw up. The pelmeni was staying down, so I had that going for me. Either way, going down or coming back up, it was delightful. Shortly after he left, Victor came back into my room and climbed into bed with me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I wondered, "You know damn well you're going to end up sicker than I am, you idiot."

"Come here," Victor wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

"Victor," I pushed him off, "I'm already hot from my fever and you put off body heat like a furnace on legs."

"But Alexi," he whined, "My cuddles fix everything."

"Victor," I hated when I had to use the mom voice on him. Even more so when I'm sick. It came out weak and raspy, "Get off me."

"Speaking of your fever," Victor got up from my bed, "We should probably check that again. While I'm up, tell me, kotenok. Do I need to get the vasoline?"

"Leave my ass alone," I glared.

"That's my girl," he gave me a little smirk. I love him to death, but sometimes, I want to throttle him. Every part of my body was fighting sleep, but if I wasn't awake by the time Victor came back, I was almost certain that I'd wake up with vasoline on my ass and that's not happening.

Once he came back, my mouth popped open, "Do we even have any vasoline?"

"I don't think so," Victor put the thermometer in, "I have to go out later anyway. I can pick some up."

"No!" I squeaked.

"Shh..." he hushed me, "It won't get an accurate reading."

"Fine," I pouted, waiting for it to beep.

"Still a little too high for my liking," Victor cringed, "That bath might still happen, like it or not."

"Has it gone up?"

"No," he wiped the end off, "But it hasn't gone down either."

"What do you want to do?" I let out a heavy sigh, completely over this. How the hell did I even get sick? I have a killer immune system. This sucks.

"I don't know," Victor fought every urge he had to take me into his arms, but he left me with a kiss on my forehead, "Just get some rest, ok?"

"Ok." He didn't have to tell me twice. I curled up with my blanket, clicked my TV on, threw on some cartoons, and clocked out. This was all I wanted. Cartoons and sleep. Everything else was all Victor's doing. He had to be extra. Then again, it's Victor. If he's not being extra, there's something wrong.

"Alexi..." I woke up a little while later, "Alexi..."

"What?" I groaned, wanting to go back to sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Victor worried.

"Tired and cranky," I glared, "Let me go back to sleep."

"Hey..." he whined, "All I'm trying to do is help here."

"I know," I pulled my blanket over my head, "Go away or I'll sic Yurio on you."

Victor went completely still. He may have loved Yurio like his own, but that didn't mean he wasn't a little afraid of him. Just the way Yurio liked it, "You wouldn't..."

"I would." And the fact that Yurio always sided with me had its perks. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, "All I have to do is call and he'll be here in roughly fifteen minutes. He's quicker than pizza."

"Ok," he backed off, "Go back to sleep."

I loved Victor to death. I really did. But all day, he's been hovering and it's making me want to punch him. If I'm sick, all I need is sleep and water. Is that too little to ask for? Honestly, I think my fever was getting to my head. I've only felt like this once when a guy at work asked me to try his brownies. This fever was making me feel so out of it. On the plus side, though, my headache's gone.

"Alexi...?" Victor whispered, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I zoned out, "I'm up."

"Look," he said, "I'm going to town in a little bit. While I'm gone, it wouldn't surprise me if Yuri takes a cab here, so he should be coming soon."

"That's nice, Victor," I sighed.

"Can I..." Victor approached the bed with caution, "Can I lay with you?"

"Screw it," I allowed, "Sure. Come here."

"So," he climbed into bed with me, pulling me to his side, "You're not going to fight me anymore?"

"No," I cuddled, "Don't have the energy for it."

"And you're not going to call Yurio?"

"No."

"Good," Victor's cold hands went to my face and my forehead, "Your fever's gone down, so that's good news. However, I don't think it's fully broken. I'm going to go get the thermometer. If it hasn't broken, I'm running the bathtub."

"Okie dokie," I wouldn't have minded if Victor stayed just a little while longer, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. I'm sure if I was still asleep, he wouldn't bathe me then. It'd be too much moving me. Although, Victor's upper arm strength was ridiculous. When he was skating, he'd usually be the one lifting Yuri. There was no doubt in my mind he'd be able to lift me. Regardless, I felt back asleep before Victor could come back.

Maybe I was being a bit ungrateful. I'm sure Victor probably had other things to do today, but he dropped everything to take care of me instead. Or he was using any excuse to be the overbearing mother he was always meant to be. I'm guessing it's that one. It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit. At least he'll be out of the house for a while and out of my hair. Maybe I could actually try moving around a little more than I have been. Victor wouldn't let me out of bed unless I was going to the bathroom.

When I woke up, the house was perfectly still. The sound of a pin dropping would've sounded like gunfire. Sweet, sweet solitude. Even the pitter patter of Makkachin's paws was nonexistent. Victor must have taken him with. Even stranger, though, why did my skin burn? Why did I smell like lavender? And why couldn't I move my face? I rolled over to get my phone and found a note on my nightstand.

 _Alexi~_

 _Went to the store to get you some medicine._

 _I'm sorry, but your fever was at 38 and hopefully, the bath helped._

Dammit, Victor...

 _I'll be back later._

 _All my love,_

 _Victor_

Victor had a bad habit of babying me when I was sick, in case that wasn't obvious. He treated me like I was a lot more fragile than what I really was. I could be on my death bed and I'd still be able to take care of myself. This? This was excessive. I guarantee that bath went by as quick as possible and I ended up swaddled. I ran my foot up the back of my leg. My smooth, soft leg that, last time I checked, I hadn't shaved in almost a week...There are lines, Victor. There are lines. I didn't have to do it, so I guess I couldn't complain.

"Victor?" a voice called from the front door, "I'm back!"

"Yuri...?" I gasped, thanking every deity in the book for sending someone with a little bit of sanity, "Yuri!"

"Alexi?" Yuri came into my bedroom, his face contorting into shock, "What's with your face? Why is it all black?"

"I can't really move it," I touched my cheek. That wasn't skin, "Dammit, Victor...Yuri, could you help a bitch out here?"

"Sure," he sat at the edge of my bed, "Which way do I do this?"

"Start at the top," I coached him through it, "Pull toward the bottom."

"Ok," Yuri got a hold of the top of whatever mask Victor decided to give me, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I reminded him, "And I'm sick."

"Oh, god..." If anyone understood my current hell, it was Yuri. He knew how Victor could be. They've been together for three years, "You poor, poor baby."

"OW!" I squeaked. That was the thing about these damn things. Taking them off hurt worse than a bandage. And because my skin is ridiculously sensitive, the burn wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"Do you want me to stop?" Yuri took his hands off me.

"No!" I demanded, "This shit burns! Keep going!"

"Ok!" I might have unintentionally made Yuri a bit anxious, but he had a slightly better lid on it than the first time I met him. Slowly, but surely, he kept peeling the black second skin off my face until it was completely gone and I could relax again.

"Thank you," I let out a heavy sigh of relief, "It's been all day, Yuri."

"What's been all day?"

"Victor," I groaned, "He's been so overbearing. He won't leave me alone."

"New Year's overbearing?" Yuri wondered.

"Worse."

"It's just how he takes care of you, Alexi," he empathized.

"How?" I scoffed, "Spoil the hell out of me?"

"Yep," Yuri nodded, "It's how he shows love. Trust me."

"I know," I laid my head on his shoulder, "I have to put up with it."

"You need anything?" he offered, "I promise I'll only ask once."

"I'm fine," I giggled, "Actually, I do feel a lot better."

"You don't feel feverish anymore," Yuri put his hand on my forehead.

"Good."

"He threatened a bath, didn't he?" he assumed.

"Yeah," I grumbled, "And he came through with it while I was sleeping."

"I'm so sorry, Alexi," Yuri hugged me a little, "Next time you're sick, video chat me or something, so I can talk Victor out of it."

"He had my phone," I pointed out, "I would've done that earlier today, but you were flying."

"I'm sorry..."

Makkachin ran into my room and jumped back on my bed. Looks like Victor's home, "Makkachin, no! She's still probably asleep!"

"No, she's not," I rubbed the puppy's fluffy belly, "She's awake."

"Oh," Victor left his bags in the kitchen and came into my room, "Yuri!"

"Hi, Victor," Yuri greeted his boyfriend a little more properly.

"How are you feeling, Alexi?" my roommate sat with me.

"A lot better," I reported, "But Victor, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he allowed, "What is it?"

"Why couldn't I move my face when I woke up?"

"Because," Victor explained, "I gave you a charcoal mask while you were sleeping and they harden when they set. You didn't peel it off, did you?"

"Yuri did," I settled him, "You couldn't have bothered asking?"

"You were sleeping," he shrugged, "I'm so sorry about this, Yuri."

"About what?" Yuri asked.

"About having to take care of Alexi while I was gone," Victor wrapped his arms around Yuri's waist, "You shouldn't have to do that."

"It's no problem," Yuri assured, "But Victor, you do realize she didn't need all of this, right?"

"Let me love her!" Victor dropped Yuri and quickly pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Love you, too, Victor," I choked out, "Let me go."

"Sorry," he put me back down.

"I'm going to go back to sleep," I nestled back into my mountain of blankets, "Why don't you two go out? Yuri, you just flew in, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"But are you sure you'll be ok by yourself?" Victor worried, "What if you need something?"

"Then, I can use my own two feet to get it," I promised, "Go, Victor. How often do you get to see Yuri in the off season? Go. You've more than earned it today."

"Are you sure…?"

"Victor," my voice started coming back, so my mom voice had that much more effect, "Go."

"Alright." I could see it all over his face. Victor still had his misgivings about it, "If you need anything, though, Alexi…"

"I'll call," I rolled my eyes, "I promise. Now, go. Go have fun with your boyfriend. Get out."

"Fine."

Yuri practically had to drag Victor out, but eventually, he got him out. Well, Makkachin, it's just you and me. Daddy went out with Yuri and I'm going to have to send Yuri a fruit basket. I got up and went into the kitchen to heat up some more pelmeni. I could finally feed myself! Although, I must admit it was nice having Victor take care of me. That's always the way this goes. I start out unable to stand him, but in hindsight, I probably would've fallen apart at work and ended up in the hospital. I'll take Victor over that any day of the week.

 **A/N: I'm a sucker for a good sick fic recently and I don't know why. But this has been collecting dust in my computer for a couple months now and I figured this would be a nice something, something before I get back to posting the Adopted sequel. Unless you've never read Adopted. Then, it's nice to see you! You should binge that before I start writing the sequel. Now, next week, I'm going to post a miniseries that's a LOT more Victuri centric than this, but until then, see you later. xx**


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